... (Caption contest...)

Okay, thanks to GrahamColling for suggesting a caption contest today. This photo needs a funny caption - so give it your best shot, please! The winner gets ... well, nothing, really, other than my gratitude!

I had to go with the funny shot today, and there was no shortage to pick from! Sometime in mid-April, the House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) returned to northern NJ, and my back yard. I greeted their arrival with mixed emotion ... on the one hand, being a new birder, I'd not ever seen one before, so that part was exciting. On the other hand, they are aggressive cavity nesters and will evict other birds, like chickadees, from existing next boxes, even if it means killing nestlings are breaking eggs. Yea, nature is a bitch.

Anyhooo... I've been watching over my little chickadee's love cottage, hoping no wrens would find it appealing. Meanwhile, I'd hung two wren boxes elsewhere on the our property. And today, while I was in the office, I was serenaded by the most lovely (and loud!) song right outside my window. I had to take a peek ... and what I saw was this little wren feverishly constructing a nest in the box that is hanging from the birch tree outside my office window!

That caused a flurry of activity on the part of yours truly, reading up on wren nesting habits. Turns out that the male wren will identify and partially construct as many as a dozen nests, hoping the female likes one and selects it (and him.) Once the Mrs has approved it, she'll take over the nest building job, frequently getting rid of all his messy twigs in favor of something more suitable. Pretty funny, and not so different from people, eh?

So this little guy was hauling twigs and sticks most of the day, taking occasional breaks to sing. The female showed up at least once to inspect - apparently she didn't like it enough to say "sign the lease" but also didn't dismiss it --- so this poor little guy is still at work. I posted a series of shots in a new Flickr Wren album, so if you'd like to have a few laughs, have a look. Some of the shots are pretty funny. It is pretty clear to me that this guy is spatially challenged. Watching his antics as he tried to cram giant twigs into a tiny opening was hilarious.

I also got a couple of close ups of an American Crow, something I've been wanted to photograph for months. You can never get anywhere near the crows here - they fear humans. However, for some reason, in the last week, they've decided that my deck suet feeder is highly desirable. Odd since they never once showed any interest in the winter. Now, they are out there every time I turn my back. Which is cool in that I am finally able to get some good close ups of a very secretive bird. But bad in that they are really, really big. And you know what big birds mean? Yep, big poop.

So there you have it, blippers. That's life from Planet Debbi out here in the burbs of Jersey.